


The Goddess of Death and Shadows

by timmyyturnerr



Category: Avengers, The Avengers
Genre: Angst, F/M, M/M, Sadness, and everything she touches is angst, because she gives me the best ideas, hey so here's my tags, i want to thank my friend Dee in advance for this, i'm working hard on this fic ok, the first time there was a thing i liked that was actually not complete shit was a long time ago, very sad, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2013-05-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 16:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/750783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timmyyturnerr/pseuds/timmyyturnerr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve starts having weird dreams about a strange planet, and a strange girl, Loki realizes that his daughter is in need of him. A group leaves Earth to go to Helheim, to find Loki's daughter, Hel, leaving a certain Colonel Barnes changed forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi so this is a fic I wrote wow  
> first, I want to go about thanking my beautiful wonderful perfect friend, Dee, at remusly-lupin.tumblr.com for helping me out with this fic. if it weren't for her motivation and support I wouldn't had made it to the second chapter.
> 
> But this is just the first one. Enjoy.

Steve was having the nightmare again.

Tony could tell. Tony could always tell when Steve was having a nightmare. 

But this one was different. This one was a dream he'd never had before, it had nothing to do with the forties or battles. 

Tony had just returned from the workshop. It must've been one in the morning, and even after hours on end in the lab, Tony was barely dirty and he'd gotten almost no work done. He just stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed with Steve, warily looking at him as he shook and shuttered against the bed and his pillows. Tony didn't know what to do. The last time he'd tried to wake Steve up, he'd almost gotten punched in the face in the process. 

Tony sighed. He pulled off his shirt and jeans, leaving them in a pile at the end of the bed. He slowly pulled himself onto his side of the bed, and settled into the dark red blankets of their bed, Steve whimpering slightly beside him. Just as Tony reached over to dim the lights, Steve suddenly shot up like a bullet, panting frantically.

"Hey, I got you," Tony said, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder and sitting up. "It's okay. You're here. You're fine." 

Steve sat there for a moment, holding his head in his palms, evening his breath. Tony drew circles on his shoulder, wrinkling his black t-shirt. Steve inhaled deeply, and then he laid back against Tony's shoulder, and Tony laid back against the soft headboard. He laced his fingers into Steve's soft short hair, letting Steve breath unsteadily against his chest. 

"You wanna talk about it?" Tony asked, laying his chin against the top of Steve's head. Steve inhaled deeply. Steve had had the dream every night that week, and every night Tony had asked him about it, and every night Steve would just decline.

But this night he didn't. 

"I wake up in this cave," Steve began. "It's dark, and I can hear howling in the distance. Not wolves howling. Some kind of weird animal. And I get up from just sitting there, and there's a little girl, just standing there. She's not facing me. And I ask her what she's doing there in the middle of the forest, and she turns around, and she doesn't have a face, Tony. Her entire face is just... a mouth. With layers of sharp teeth, like a shark. And she just watches me, just staring, and so I look around, and the exit of the cave is just a few feet away, and so I take one look at the girl, and I just walk out.

The outside of the cave isn't much better. The sky just goes straight into galaxies, blue and red and purple. They're actually really beautiful. But everything else is forest, just trees. Some of them are so long they twist and turn, and they're like big oak trees, but I swear the leaves are just gray. Everything's gray, underneath are the normal colors, but they're just dulled. And so, I just start walking, hearing noises off in the distance, howling, shuffling, snorting, weird stuff like that. And I keep walking for what feels like hours through thick trees, I see smoke from what's just about a mile away. And let me just- remind you, it's so vivid, every time I have the dream I don't know it's a dream. It feels real. I can smell, hear, see everything so perfectly.

And so I start walking, fast, because the temperature is dropping extremely at least every ten minutes, and at least twenty minutes into the walk- which is downhill- the grass starts to get green. And I mean really green, vivid and bright. The bark on the trees are some sort of pretty, almost shining brown, the leaves on the trees are bright green. When I keep walking, and I see flowers, and they're crazy bright, and in every color and type you could imagine. And then, at the bottom of the hill, where the smoke is coming from, there are just two people standing there.

A man and a woman- they're easily identical twins. They both have red hair- the woman's down to her calves and straight and the man's short and tidy. They're both dressed nice- the woman in something maybe from the 1800's, the man in a more modern suit, and the woman waves for me to come with them and I do. We walk for about five minutes before we come across this huge building. Like- a castle. It's big and all white- really fancy statues carved into it, flowers all over the lawn and vines wrapped around all the pillars. There's people walking around, dressed nice, looking at me, grimacing. And so we walk in, and the house is fancier- although I can't remember as easily- and I go up a huge marble staircase, they tell me to. All the other doors are closed except this room with huge, black doors down a long corridor, filled with paintings and statues I can't remember what are of, and I walk in, and there's a girl standing there, like a teenager, maybe in her early-to-late-twenties. She's- well, beautiful, long black hair and shiny gray eyes, and she's wearing a dark purple dress.

Then, she says, 'Welcome to Helheim,' and I wake up." Steve finished, and Tony didn't know what to say. He swore he knew whatever Helheim was- he just couldn't remember. Tony didn't know what to say. 

"I'm sorry baby," he said, playing with a shorter strand of Steve's dirty blonde hair and pulled him closer to Tony's chest. "But it'll go away. All the nightmares do. They're just dreams." he ran a thumb over Steve's jawline. 

Steve turned around just a little, looking Tony in the eyes and reaching up, letting their lips brush. He laid his head on Tony's chest, and Tony reached over and clicked off the light. He turned his head and laid his chin against Steve's soft hair, and he fell into a sleep, his breath coordinating with Steve's.

...

Mornings living with the Avengers, plus Bucky and the Norse God of Mischief, were either completely calm or made everyone want to go back to bed.

It went a little something like this:

Steve would wake up before everyone else and start making breakfast. He'd make enough coffee to feed a village, and he'd even hand juice the orange juice. He'd make enough bacon and eggs and pancakes and waffles to feed an army, all AFTER his morning jog and shower.

Clint would wake up just after Steve got out of the shower and started making breakfast. He'd sit on top of the fridge and cabinets, drinking the coffee he made for himself and eating his breakfast gummy worms. Natasha would be up soon after taking her shower, wearing her clothes for the day and ready to sit for a quick breakfast and get ready for work. If it was an off day, she'd be asleep until nine, and then she'd spend the rest of the day watching British television.

If Loki wasn't around, maybe he was still in bed with a woman he'd slept with or just reading a book, Thor would be asleep until noon. Loki was always up right after everyone else, and he'd shower, put his hair up (it was damn long enough) and wake up Thor. 

Steve would wake Tony up right after he showered, usually coaxing him awake by whispering that his projects were exploding down in the lab, or that JARVIS was playing recordings of Natasha and Clint screwing over the PA system in the house. After Tony was awake and Steve went off to make breakfast, Tony would go off to wake up Bruce. Every day it was something new, from jumping on his bed to holding his nose shut to putting earbuds in his ears and turning on AC/DC. Bruce never hulked out about it though, but almost at the AC/DC. 

Then, a very disgruntled Bruce and a very chipper Tony would go into Bucky's room, which was always messy but somehow smelled really good, like chocolate or something, and shake him until he woke up. Tony had taken the liberty to build a tiny alarm clock into Bucky's arm, but the first day of having it Bucky had disabled it with a small butter knife after he hadn't been able to find the snooze button.

And last, they'd all sit down for breakfast. And that was where they'd been at the next morning.

Tony had his hand on Steve's knee under the table. Everyone was drinking more coffee and juice than anything. Steve had burnt the bacon and had used the expired eggs in the back of the fridge.

Someone, of course, said something. That someone, of course, would be Thor.

"Steven, my friend! You seem down! What worries you?" He boomed, looking truly worried for Steve, his eyebrows knitted. Steve sighed as everyone around the table turned to look at him. 

"I, er- haven't been getting much sleep the last week." he said, fidgeting with his fingers. Tony raised his eyebrows at the blonde, his eyes, silently saying, "These people have been your friends for three years plus, and you won't tell them?"

So, Steve sighed, and said, "Okay, what's actually happening is..."

"and she said, 'Welcome to Helheim-'"

Loki nearly choked on his cereal. He turned his attention to Steve, grabbing his wrist unnecessarily hard and looking him in the eyes. He looked a little crazy, his black hair messy and green eyes wide.

"What did you say she looked like?" Loki demanded. When Steve didn't immediately answer, Loki gripped his wrist harder and hissed, "Tell me," his voice sharp and low.

"She was, um, sort of pretty. Really long, black hair, and grey eyes." Steve replied, stuttering and confused. Loki softened his grip a bit, exhaling and leaning back a little.

"And where did she say you were?" Loki asked softly, looking nervously at Steve.

"She said we were, in, er- Helheim?" Steve said, like he was unsure.

Loki sighed out a deep breath. He looked into his coffee cup for a moment, contemplating. He knitted his brows together, and looked up to Thor, who was bearing a similar expression. Loki sighed again, and made eye contact with every person surrounding him.

"Helheim is the Realm of the dead." Loki began. "My daughter, Hel, or the Goddess of Death, is the Queen of Helheim. I believe she wishes to contact me. She has attempted to through your dreams, Steven," he finished, glancing at Steve and then looking away.

The group sat in silence for a moment before Tony broke it.

"Wait, hold the fuck up," he said, "You have a daughter?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "I have many children, you ignoramus." Tony ignored the insult and continued.

"So what you're saying is, your daughter- who rules, like, Hell or wherever- is trying to contact you through my boyfriend?" Tony asked.

Loki stared at him for a moment, silently questioning if he was serious. "Yes, that is exactly what I am saying, Stark." 

Thor interrupted their stare-down. "You know, brother, we have not seen Hel in a very, very long while." he said quietly. "I would very much like to see her." Loki sighed, a shake in his voice. "As would I," he whispered, "But we are both well aware that it is not that easy. Helheim can be dangerous." 

Natasha interrupted. "Okay, but what are you even getting at? There's no way we can actually get there." 

Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course there's a way. Do you doubt my magic?" 

"No," Natasha muttered. Of course she wouldn't; after what he did to Clint a few years ago, or even the fact that Loki would turn her hair pink when he was aggravated with her, no one would doubt Loki's magic.

"Don't you need to know if she even needs you?" Bucky asked suddenly. "You can't just leave without knowing that. Maybe she's just fucking with Steve. I mean, she's the son of the fucking God of Mischief." 

Loki narrowed his eyes. "My daughter is nothing like me, or my other children. She is smart. Do not doubt her. Everything she does is for a reason," he snapped. Loki took a second to cool down, his words hanging in the air. He took a sip of his coffee, eyes closed, brows furrowed. He stared down the granite countertop, deep in thought. The only audible sound was Thor, who was still eating his breakfast happily. Thor was always like that. That's why he was Tony's favorite.

"Of course!" Loki yelled suddenly, breaking the silence violently and dropping his coffee cup to the granite countertop, almost breaking it in the process. He stood up, smoothing down his hair and t-shirt, a smile on his face. "I will know by noon," he said, and then left the room.

. . .

Loki sat over the filled bathtub in the complete darkness. He silently chanted a spell in Norse, sprinkling a thin type of blue dust he'd ground together out of the potion-making supplies he kept in his bedroom. This had to work, he thought.

He stopped chanting and opened his eyes, looking at the clear, empty water in the darkness. Of course it wouldn't work. He'd been foolish to think it would have, nothing ever goes right for him. And then-

A bright, blue glow began to emit from the water, shining up and projecting at least a few feet high. White-blue cloudy puffs at first, like mist.

Then the picture cleared up.

Blurry splashes of color here and there. Loki crouched up a bit from his previous Indian-style one, crouching on his toes. He gripped the corner of the bathtub, whispering, "Please, please..."

Then, a room became visible in the picture, surrounding splashes of black and peach and red. A room, one he remembered from years ago. Marble floors and a staircase out of a door, a wooden fireplace with carvings of a snake wrapping around it, black wood. Above the fireplace a large, beautiful painting of Loki himself, Jörmungandr , Fenrir, and-

"Daddy?"

Loki's eyes centered on what was formally a slash of color, now a face.

"Hel."

His daughter looked beautiful. She had reached her later teenage appearance- she would look this way for many, many centuries to come.

She had creamy, clear skin, extremely long, wavy black hair. She was standing at least three feet away from the waterfall that flowed through her room- the one Loki was talking to her through. She was wearing a tight red dress, red lipstick, and even from that far away her grey eyes illuminated. 

"Daddy!" She cried, every part of her grinning, her voice full of happiness. "Her grin was ear-to-ear, bearing perfect teeth. 

"Hel," Loki said his voice choked up without realizing it. "I have missed you terribly."

She looked into Loki's eyes. "I've missed you, too." They looked at each other a moment before she said,

"I've been practicing magic for a long time. I learned to change my appearance at will." 

Loki smiled, almost bitterly. "I can see that. It's brilliant," he whispered. Hel had been born with half of her body rotten, bones exposed. Some of her skin withered off, but even her dead side was as strong as her living side, Loki guessed by magic. Once Hel, Jörmungandr and Fenrir were brought to Asgard, she had been later cast out to Helheim, to rule there as Queen of the Underworld, by none other than Odin, after all of the Asgardians were disturbed by her appearance. 

"I want to visit you, in Migard." she said quietly, looking at him with a sad longing. "I want to see those Realms and meet mortals. I love Helheim, but I have grown lonely here." 

Loki was slightly surprised at her words. He hadn't expected her to ask him of that. He didn't know how it would be possible.

"You look weary," she said, interrupting Loki's thoughts.

"I will do anything for you, my dear." Loki decided with a smile. "But on the grounds that you may only visit every now and then. You do have to keep track of the Dead, and Helheim." 

She smiled. "I know that, father. But Ganglati and Ganglot will be here to watch after the Realm for me." 

Loki nodded. Ganglati and Ganglot- brother and sister, servants of Hel, although she treated them as friends.

"I will consult my, erm, friends. I will not make this trip alone. If I get my... friends to come or not, there is not a doubt in my mind Thor will definitley come with me."

Hel grinned again. "Tell Uncle Thor I love him." she said, and Loki nodded. 

"I- WE will see you in a few days." he said.

"I love you," Hel said, and Loki breathed out, and he was cut off, sitting in a dark bathroom again, staring at a tub full of dust.

...

"There's no way," Tony said, "That I am going to the Underworld. Nope." 

They were sitting in the living room- the entire team, plus Bucky and Loki, who had not been dubbed official Avengers. Yet.

"Please," Loki said, repeating himself. "It is for my daughter. Imagine if YOU would have been denied of your own children for years. She just wishes to visit. Please."

Tony sighed, and began to speak, but was interrupted.

"Me and Tash can't go," Clint said. "We have a mission, remember? We'll be out for two weeks." Natasha nodded with a small, 'sorry, Loki'.

Loki scanned the faces of the remaining eligible people. Steve, who seemed willing but also would not leave Tony by himself. Stark, who had initially refused but could most likely be persuaded. Thor, who was ready and excited, but Loki would dread spending so much time alone with him.

Then there was Bruce and Bucky, who hadn't said anything whatsoever. 

"Banner?" Loki asked, looking him right in the eyes.

"Um, well, erm- I would actually like to go. Good learning experience." He stuttered. This had been what Loki was hoping he'd say. Bruce had been fascinated by Asgard, but Asgard was all metal and magic. Helheim was plant life and nature. Natural.

"Excellent!" Loki said, a great grin. He leaned back onto the black leather couch, thinking. If Bruce was going, then Tony would-

"Well, if you're going, I have to go." Tony said, leaning over to look at Bruce. "Do I look like the type of friend to let people go to fucking alien planets themselves? Hell fucking no!" 

Bruce smiled fondly and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Steve.

"Well of course if Tony's going, I'm going." he said simply. "Easy."

"Well if Stevie's goin', so am I," Bucky said, slapping Steve on the shoulder with his robotic metal arm, a grin on his face.

"So it is settled!" Thor boomed suddenly, making every person in the room jump. "We are going to Helheim!" 

...

That night, instead of working in the lab or running in the gym, Tony and Steve stood in their bedroom, pacing pack and fourth and picking what they'd bring carefully. 

Loki had said when they arrived in Helheim it would be almost inevitable they would land in some type of forest, weather it be the 'bad side' or the 'good side'. When they asked, Loki said said, "I will tell you when we arrive."

Tony and Steve had fished out their largest backpacks. Tony was carrying the one containing the clothes and Steve was carrying the one for various (and heavier) items such as mouthwash or toothbrushes, maybe weapons. Although they thought it would be a little un-necessary; with Thor's hammer, Loki's magic, Steve's strength, and Bruce's Hulk, they'd be fine. Tony's suit wouldn't work outside of Earth. 

Which left him feeling admittedly a little defenseless.

But Tony couldn't admit that to Steve, he didn't want him worried. Besides, there was a fifty percent chance they'd end up on the 'good side' of Helheim.

But there was also a fifty percent chance they wouldn't.

They would leave late in the day the next day and camp shortly after arriving. Thor would be carrying all the tents- all five- because he was the strongest. 

Once they finished packing, Steve zipped up their backpacks and dropped them near the edge of the bed. 

He looked over at Tony, blue eyes meeting weary brown ones.

 

"I love you." Steve said. He said it a lot, always meaning it. Tony loved Steve, he loved everything about him. His innocence and his authority and his leadership. Wherever Tony wherever Tony was, it didn't matter, as long as he was with Steve, he was home.

"I love you, too." Tony replied, smiling. He walked slowly to the side of the bed Steve was on, and grabbed Steve's hand, and together they sat on the bed, the springs groaning under them.

"Are you ready for this?" Steve asked, his hand finding Tony's temple and brushing back his hair. 

Tony smiled coyly and leaned into him. He smelled like green apples and clothing detergent, like always. He cupped Steve's cheek in his hand, just looking, and then leaning in, closing the gap and allowing their lips to meet. 

"I'm ready if you are," Tony whispered, and breathlessly they melted into each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> stuff happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright hey  
> so I just wanted to say beforehand that this is a work in progress alright  
> ONT OP of the book i'm writing, art and finals  
> also it's going to have like 3 oc's (including hel and ganglot and a character that has not been introduced thus far) who are kind of extremely undeveloped  
> also it might be loki/oc but you know what I don't know yet enjoy

"First thing you need to know about Helheim is that there are two sides to the Realm: a good side, and a bad side," Loki began, as the seven began to walk through a wheat field with tall, golden grass growing around their legs. "We can only hope we land on the good side. When the souls that rightfully belong to Hel arrive there, she sees if they are a good person or a bad person. The truly evil people are sent to the bad side, where they live in poverty and are tortured if they commit too bad a crime against Hel.

The good side are filled with the good souls, which is beautiful. There are flowers everywhere, and music. I am positive that if we end up there, we will receive true hospitality. Remember, everyone in Helheim besides Hel herself is dead, and it is not often they come across the Living. They will have much to ask us, although Hel still gets modern souls to this day, so do not think it is all old-timed people. Everyone- besides the sinners and the evil souls- turn into the body they were happiest in when they arrive in Helheim and never age unless they want to. You might even see children there, but that is because children knew no greater happiness beyond their youth."

As Loki talked, they trekked farther into the wheat field they'd chosen. They were going to walk right into the middle, and Loki was going to cast some sort of spell, and POOF- they'd be in Helheim. A transportation spell. Loki had explained that Helheim is much like the Heaven and Hell you would hear of in the Christian religion, although you are sent do different places under different circumstances. 

After Loki finished talking, they walked in silence, the items in their backpacks shifting. Tony was tightly gripping Steve's hand, nervous. Clint and Natasha were going to be the ones to break it to Fury and Coulson that the other six- if you counted Loki and Bucky as Avengers- members of their team were going to off in another realm for maybe longer than a week. Tony was at least glad he wouldn't have to be there for that conversation.

Finally, Loki pulled out a hand. "This is where we stop." Tony, Bruce, Steve, Thor, and Bucky all stood around, watching, as Loki unstrapped his backpack- all of the backpacks clicked together at the front so they wouldn't be lost when they were traveling through fucking SPACE- and drooped it into the yellow grass in front of them and began to unzip it. The sunlight reflected off Bucky's metal arm, his messy brown hair disheveled and his white t-shirt with a coffee stain on the front. 

In fact, everyone looked a little weird besides Tony and Bucky. It was rare to see Thor out of his Asgardian armor or in something a little more complex and fancy, king-like. Loki and Bruce always wore clothes that were on the fancier side, nice shirts and shoes and pants. Now both of them were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Steve hadn't even bothered with that, he just wore his jogging clothes. 

Loki, at last, finished shifting through his backpack (pulling out and returning suspicious-looking items in the process) he pulled out a large, white orb. He zipped his bag back up and pulled it back over his shoulders, strapping it against his chest. He looked at the rest of them. 

"Alright. Take someone else's hand; if this transportation from Earth to Helheim goes wrong and we are split up, at least we will be in pairs," he muttered, and warily, Loki took Thor's hand, Tony happily grabbed Steve's hand, and Bruce awkwardly grabbed hold of Bucky's metal one. 

And then, like some sort of Harry Potter shit, Loki wielded the blue orb, shouted Helheim, and threw it to the ground. The last thing Tony thought before he was sucked into a vortex was that it was the cheesiest thing, and maybe the most dangerous thing, he'd ever done.

...

When Tony woke up, the first thing that he thought of was that he was warm. He could he a fire crackling somewhere in the distance, and he was wrapped in blankets and his head was on a pillow. And he thought maybe, just for a second, that they'd landed on the good side of Helheim. 

Then he sat up and examined the rest of the tent. He was sitting on a cot in the middle of a huge tent. There were six more cots in the tent, along with piles of clothes. Tony stood up and unzipped the door of the tent, stepping out and looking out.

The ground was covered in snow, although it wasn't snowing. Vivid colors, hospitality, Loki had said. This was not the good side of Helheim. Everything was grey, cold. The trees were cloaked with sharp icicles, and there were no animals around. Right outside of the tent someone had built a fire, And everyone else was sitting around it. Bruce was right at the edge of where the trees began again, picking at the bark of the grey-brown tree and looking at it through a microscope.

Tony walked out, ignoring the cold that immediately hit his arms and face. Steve looked up the moment Tony's foot crunched in the snow, and bolted to him. "Tony! Are you okay? Does your head hurt?" 

Tony knitted his eyebrows. Now that he thought about it, his head DID hurt. Nothing he couldn't get used to, just a nagging headache. This, this new planet, was much more to handle. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tony said, smiling at Steve, who was so concerned, so worried for Tony; he hated feeling mushy. "What happened, anyway?"

Steve grabbed Tony's arm and lead him to the logs they were sitting on around the campfire, sitting him between Bucky, who's metal arm emitted cold from the air. Not helping. 

"When we arrived here, it was immediately brought to our attention of two things," Loki began, not letting Steve tell the story. "First; that we were not on the correct side of Helheim. Even during the winter, it does not get cold when it snows on the good side of Helheim. It would never be this bitter. Next, you were missing. We walked for about five minutes before we found you; your hand slipped from Steven's grip during the travel and you fell further away in the forest rather than landing softly, hitting your head on a few branches and finally landing on a rock, leaving you unconscious. You are lucky that you have been asleep for longer than two days; you have missed the worst of our travel. You are also lucky that your boyfriend is more than willing to carry you, his own backpack, and yours. We are less than three days from my daughter's castle," Loki paused, looking deep into the fire with a deep grimace.

"But, something much worse has happened upon our arrival. As we fell through the atmosphere of Helheim, the source of my magic left my body. It is in a physical form, or maybe a shining ball of colorful gas. Either way, there is no way for me to cast any kind of spell. Until we get to my daughter and I can teach her how to locate my magic, we cannot leave this planet, and we have much lesser defenses over the foreign animals here." Loki finished. 

Tony considered this. He'd been asleep for days, Steve- the perfect bastard- carried him uphill and downhill the entire time, and Loki was magic less. 

"Why can't we leave the planet when we get to the castle? Why do we have to get your magic back first?" Tony asked, looking back up from his feet to Loki, slipping his warm hand into Steve's cold, clammy one.

"I do not have another orb. They are extremely hard to make, but it was necessary seeing as there would be no way Heimdall would allow us to go to Helheim. I could not, even with my power, conjure enough magic to send us back to Migard. I would have to have the assistance of another person. Once we pick Hel up and leave again to search for the source of my magic, as we travel, I plan on teaching her spells to both help protect us against the untamable dangers in these forests and transport us back to Migard." 

Loki's words hung in the air, heavy and thick. They were screwed, Tony thought. He squeezed Steve's hand. "Okay," Tony said finally, and then he stood, pulling Steve up with him. "Thanks," he muttered, and he shuffled back into the tent, Steve trailing after him. They entered and zipped it back up behind them, and when they entered Tony plopped onto the cot that could potentially be large enough to share. Steve plopped down next to him.

"You carried me uphill in the forest for three days," Tony said, like it was a fact less than a question.

"Well, yeah. I figured Thor already had all the tents- which were heavy enough, and you were easy to carry. You're not that heavy." Steve replied, like he hadn't just concocted a miracle. "Besides, it was all downhill anyway. Remember how I told you the castle was downhill from where I woke up?" 

"Yeah," Tony said, thinking back to that night, and then the morning after. They sat awkwardly for a moment, listening to Thor booming about food outside, the fire crackling, Bruce shuffling around in the snow collecting samples. 

When Tony opened his mouth to say something else, he was interrupted by Loki unzipping the tent, looking disgruntled, probably because of Thor talking about his undying love for hot dogs directly into Loki's ear. He shuffled through the tent, awkwardly glancing at Tony and Steve before slowly pulling the blanket back from where it laid on his cot, slipping into it, and pulling it over his head. Tony and Steve watched as he curled up into a ball, and soon after, began to snore.

Tony looked at Steve. "You tired?" he asked. Steve shrugged, but Tony could tell he was. His hair was messy and his eyelids were drooping. Tony pulled his legs up onto the cot and leaned against the back of it, and patted his lap. Steve smiled and leaned against Tony's chest, and Tony pulled the blanket out from underneath them and over Steve. And soon after, the two fell asleep in the middle of literal Hell.

...

Three hours into the walk the next day, Loki had loudly declared they were lost by dramatically throwing his spaghetti arms into the air and screaming it to the heavens, like he was begging for one of the animals they heard growling in the distance to take them home and feed them to their babies.

"WE ARE LOST," Thor declared in agreement, dropping mjolnir to the ground with a thump. "WE ARE GOING TO STARVE IN THE WOODS AND WE ARE ONLY GOING TO LIVE OFF OF ROTTEN MEAT," and then, he decided that it would be okay to walk over to the nearest tree and start to bang his head against it, repeatedly.

The remaining few watched as Loki screamed to the sky like he was praying and Thor started to take down the tree that was thicker than the entire width of Steve's shield, and wood chips were already flying every which way. 

Then Bruce decided to be their savior.

"Hey, um, can you be quiet for a second?" he asked, well, quietly, in a very Bruce-Fashion. "Hey," he said again, a bit louder, as Thor continued to give the tree a concussion and Loki continued to blow out his vocal chords. 

"SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH, LOKI," Bruce boomed then, straightening his shoulders. Loki jumped then, dropping his thin arms to his sides and turning to look at Bruce. Even Thor stopped thumping his head.

"Aw, Bruce released his inner lion," Bucky said sarcastically, his metal and natural arms stuffed in his pockets. Tony swore Bucky couldn't live without Clint, the two of them running around and climbing through air vents, making sarcastic comments and eating their weight in chocolate and gummy worms. The two had a beautiful friendship, to say the least, and Bucky learned the best sarcasm from the best, if we weren't going to include Tony.

Bruce ignored him. "If you two dunderheads would just be quiet for a minute, please? Thank you," he said, making eyes at the two of them, and damn, Bruce just said 'dunderheads'. If he wasn't stuck in the middle of the woods on a foreign planet that also so happened to be, basically, Hell- the Underworld, however you'd put it- he would've laughed. But in all reality, Tony was cold, hungry, and was still getting over the initial shock of the fact that this planet even had oxygen on it and they hadn't all suffocated. And then, the sound of trickling.

Not, like, trickling like someone was pissing down their leg- which actually could've happened when Bruce gives the death stare, and you think you see a flash of green through his brown eyes- but, of a stream. Water. A river.

"Now, it makes sense to me that there would be a river close to a palace which rules over the entire Underworld. I'm almost positive that if we follow this, it'll take us somewhere maybe not horrible. Now, let's go find it before the Other Guy royally smashes one of your faces." Bruce finished, and then turned on his heals toward the general direction of the trickling noise. 

Bruce was so sassy, Tony thought. And then Tony remembered that he thought Bruce everything he knew anyway. So, chipper, Tony grabbed Steve's soft, enormous hand and they trekked after two Norse Gods, a man who's sometimes a Hulk, and a guy with a robot arm, and it sort of felt simple, if it hadn't been for the forest.

The forest itself was strange, full of twists and turns and abnormalities. Now, Tony wasn't someone who frequented the woods, like, ever. Every time he'd been sent to boarding school it'd never been near the woods, always some prestigious place by shopping malls and beaches that had promised Howard they'd clean up Tony's shitty attitude. Clearly they hadn't succeeded, but they had succeeded in leaving Tony completely clueless on Forest Survival 101: Underworlds. 

All the trees twisted and turned, even the larger ones- their branches reminded Tony of his mom's corkscrew curly hair. The grass was more like moss, squishy, but it was like there was no dirt underneath. It was always cold- where there wasn't grass there was patches of snow and ice, and the wind was always blowing. The only light they got was from the moons and stars. Loki had told them this was because Helium's sun remained on the side of Helheim that Hel and the Good Souls lived on. It was constant, grey, eternal darkness for those who had been bad.

That sounded really shitty to Tony, and he almost felt bad for them. But then he'd hear a wolf's howl that sounded like an angry elephant trying to devour an eagle with a spoon, and he'd take back that thought. 

And so they walked. It wasn't any longer than fifteen minutes at most before they reached the stream, which was filled with hope and dirty water. It was a good five feet long, and went down the twisting mossy mountain side. Tony pulled out some Skittles he'd packed with him as they, yet again, started walking, this time for any amount of time.

...

In the last four hours they'd been walking, three things had happened. One, Tony's feet had gotten extremely sore, to which he had asked Bruce to Hulk Out and carry him the rest of the way. Bruce refused with a fond smile, just like when they'd first met on the Helicarrier. Two, Bucky had pretended to be a tour guide, saying things like, "To your left, folks, you'll see lots of grey bushes. Oh! Is that a mutated, grey squirrel I'm sighting? Oh, and if you look directly before you, you'll see a certain God of Mischief flipping me the bird." and Third, Tony had realized just how badly he wanted to get to this stupid fucking palace. They'd have food there that wasn't sour raspberries and crushed, charred bread, right? Hel, no matter what kind of Goddess, was still royal.

"So, Loki," Tony said finally, after about twenty minutes of no sound except their breath and their feet crunching against snow and dirt. "Tell us about Hel, besides what she looks like. How'd she come to rule this, er- Realm?" He said, stopping himself from calling it a dump. He remembered how Steve had described it once he got to the Good Side- beautiful, radiant, glowing.

"She is one of my many children," Loki began, after shooting Tony a look of pure surprise, as if Tony wasn't going to ask about it eventually. Actually, he wasn't. But usually SOMEONE was talking, weather that was himself, Thor, or Bucky. Somebody had to be doing it. "Many years ago, I fell for a giantess named Angrboda. Soon after she conceived three of my children- Hel being among those- I left her land, Giantland, for Asgard, and she took care of our children. I visited them when I could. 

Odin, though, quickly learned about my children, and had been quick to decide that no good would come of them. He had a group of his soldiers go to Giantland and take my children away from Angrboda to come live under a watchful eye, in Asgard. And so they did, taking the three of them without permission. And they lived in Asgard, unpeacefully, at that. 

Hel was born, as I have mentioned, with half of her bones and flesh exposed, just skinless. The hair that does grow on the skinless side of her body is white, while the rest is black. Somehow she has managed to conceal this with magic, but for the time being, she had been just a child. And Odin, the bastard, cared more about his subjects than his own grandchildren. Hel's appearance made all the Asgardians- take away Thor and Frigga- very uncomfortable. She did not last long on Asgard before Odin cast her out to rule Helheim, named after her, as if that made up for it. Shortly after my other children suffered other fates- my son, Jormungr, a large serpent, was sent to live in the depths of Migard, deep in oceans, and Fenrir, my giant wolf-child, is still believed to be dangerous and thus chained up, almost never released from imprisonment." 

They walked in silence as the end of Loki's story hung in the air. Kids imprisoned, daddy issues, no wonder he tried to take over the world, Tony thought, but then he remembered Loki threw him out of a window, and he got over it. 

"Wait, so you have a giant serpent kid that lives on Earth?" Bucky asked, turning to look at him. Loki looked over his shoulder, tossing him a glare. "Is that a problem?" he snapped, and Bucky threw his hands up in surrender. "No, no, giant serpent kids are wonderful. I myself would like to have a giant serpent child." he said.

"One time," Tony said, breaking the silence that followed, "I had this girlfriend in high school named, like, Heather or Hannah or something along those lines. And she was all, 'Tony omigod, I'm PREGNANT! and I fucking pissed everywhere, because, I mean, like, kids cry a lot. But then I realized it was April Fools Day. So I guess if she really was pregnant, I'd have an Iron Child." 

Literally everyone in their group turned around to look at him.

"What? I thought we were sharing kid stories," Tony said, shrugging and walking on.

It wasn't too long before the sun started to set again. The forest itself was, slowly, turning less grey. The bark of the trees was browner, and the grass-moss was just faintly green, and the stream they were following was even looking like actual clear water and not grey-tinted, like there was powder running through it. 

Then, they started to hear the growls. Dark and low, like a wolf's, but also just a bit of a hiss underneath, like a snake. None of them had to say anything before Thor, who had tended to leave mjolnir somewhere only to summon it later, had summoned it into his hand, gripping it tightly. Steve had unstrapped his shield from his backpack and held it tight to his arm. Bruce had gone behind a bush to change into the pants Tony had invented for him that wouldn't rip when he hulked out and would shrink back to regular size when he went back to normal. 

And it wasn't long before the growling got closer as the sun, or whatever it was lighting the planet, disappeared, leaving them in the darkness. They couldn't see too far in front or behind or around them, and then Thor, who was leading them through the forest, reached his arms out, stopping Loki and Steve in their paths. Bruce, Bucky and Tony all looked over their shoulders to see what Thor had stopped them from, and Tony audibly gulped.

In front of them, just barely concealed from the darkness, was an animal that looked like some kind of crazy wolf hybrid. It was taller than Thor, with a fur that could easily be described as dark purple. It's snout was short, and wide, and it didn't have a wolf's nose; it had two slits, like a snake would have, and thin, long pupils like a snake. When the wolf-hybrid bared it's jaws, it had the teeth of a wolf, but something was dripping off of them, and when the liquid fell to the ground, it sizzled and burned a hole straight into the mossy grass. 

"Shit," Loki breathed, and that had done it.

The wolf launched and landed a good foot, maybe less in front of Thor, spitting venom everywhere. Thor swung at the animal with mjolnir while Steve threw his bag to the side and charged the animal, and Bucky ran towards the animal's flank, ready to take out it's legs. Bruce looked like he was contemplating Hulking, or weather it was really even worth it. Tony , without his suit, and Loki, without his magic, were left defenseless against the creature. While both of them could fight okay, it wasn't something they were used to.

The animal thrashed and yelped it's wolf-snake howl as Bucky threw out one of it's legs, but the animal kicked him square in the chest after, throwing him a few feet back into the forest. It slammed Steve in the head with it's jaw, throwing him to the ground, a loud clang sounding as Steve's skull fell against the SHEILD, leaving him disoriented. Thor's lip was bleeding, and the creature was stronger than it looked. Finally, Thor backed up, and began swinging his hammer, conjuring lightning and thunder from the sky, when a yell burst out from the trees. 

"HOW DARE YOU DEFY THE QUEEN," said a moderately high-pitched yell, and terrifying at that. A woman rushed out from the forest, and she looked like something out of Assassin's Creed, wearing an all-black deal with a hood covering her head. She had long, fiery-red hair. A man followed her just after she came out of the woods, wearing a similar outfit, with the hood down, showing slicked-back red hair. Twins, Tony thought.

The woman bared her shiny, white teeth at the animal in a sneer, and the animal actually cowered, looking down like a scolded puppy. While it was much, much larger than the dainty, mousy woman, it even whined as she walked over and smacked it on the side of the head. Then, she grabbed the top of it's ear in her fist and whispered quite loudly, "Do something like this again to anyone, living or dead, and Lady Hel will have your soul in a jar, do you understand me?" Vaguely British, Tony decided, like Thor and Loki. The man behind her smirked happily, and the second the woman let go of the animal's ear, it backed up a few feet and then leaped over Tony and Loki's heads, disappearing into the forest. 

"Good one, sister," said the red-headed dude in a deep voice, and he held his hand up to high-five the red-headed girl, who pulled down her hood revealing the rest of her curly red hair, and Tony kind of thought she looked like a mix of Merida from Brave and Amy Pond. She slapped her brother's hand with a wry smile, and the two of them turned their attention to the group as Bucky stumbled from the woods, where he'd been kicked in the chest, and Steve rubbed the side of his head as he peeled himself from the ground. Tony walked over and helped him the rest of the way up, grabbing his hand and looking at the twins.

"I am Ganglot," said the woman, "and I am Ganglati," said the man. "We're twins," the woman, Ganglot explained, "and we are servants- or friends- of Lady Hel." she said, letting her brother take over.

"She assumed that you would have been at the Palace in less than a day once you arrived in Helheim, with your magic, Loki." Ganglati said, glancing at Loki, who still looked a little more pale as usual from the wolf-snake. "She sent us out to look for you all yesterday. Were you lost? You are heading the completely wrong direction. Any further that way," he said, pointing to the direction we were going, "and you would be on the complete wrong side. Lucky for you, the Palace is about an hour and a half away from this location that way," he said, pointing to the right of where they were headed. 

Thor sighed happily, while Loki sighed, annoyed, and surely equipped with a sassy comeback. But Thor, as usual, boomed loudly over him like he would anyone. "Thank the Gods! We have been out here for days." he grinned happily at the twins, and then the eight of them began to head toward the right, hopping over the thinnest part of the stream. 

They weren't long into the walk, the twins leading them, before Ganglot turned around, walking backwards and eyeing the group down, skipping Thor and Loki. "So, Loki," she said, while her eyes were still examining Bruce, "are you going to introduce me to your Migardian friends?"

"Need I remind you that you were also once Migardian?" Loki sniped at her. She rolled her big, green eyes. "That was long ago. Now, introduce me, don't be rude." 

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed melodramatically, but spoke. He pointed at Tony first. "This is Tony Stark. He has a large glowing sphere in his chest because there are broken off pieces of technology inside him that could fatally re-arrange his insides. He has a lot of money. I threw him out a window once." Tony snorted, and waved at her.

"This," Loki said, pointing to Steve, "is the Captain of America. He guards the entirety of Earth, but chooses favorites. He is from the 40's, and he is apparently old for Migardian standards. He and Stark are together. His real name is Steven." Steve glared at Loki for the brief description, but then smiled and Ganglot and literally bowed over for her. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Always the gentleman, Steve, Tony thought with a smile.

"That is Bucky Barnes," Loki said, pointing at Bucky. "once, many moons ago, he fell out of an airplane and that is why he is missing an arm. But Tony is an engineer, and so he created a new arm for him that is made of metal. He is sassy and eats too much chocolate, much like myself. I consider him an ally." 

Oh, yeah. Bucky and Loki are pretty close, too. A lot like Tony and Bruce are Science Bros, officially, there were t-shirts, Bucky, Loki, and Clint were literally the Three Musketeers. Tony thought at first that Steve would feel left alone, but to no avail; a week later he realized that Steve spent a lot of his time running on treadmills in the gym with Pepper, getting taught how to use technology with Natasha, watching bad MTV shows with Darcy, or once again being taught how to use technology with Jane. Jane, surprisingly, was a huge fan of old forties stuff, so they got along. Also, there was always Thor for him to spar with. But sometimes Thor got a little weird, even for Steve.

But moving on.

"And last, there is Banner," Loki said, pointing at Bruce, who waved awkwardly. "He is a man of science, which is why he embarked on this journey, to collect samples. Sometimes he turns into a larger, green man who is opposed to me." Loki scoffed like it was a ridiculous thing, not to like him.

Let Tony remind you. OUT A WINDOW.

The mousy redhead laughed. "You've got strange friends, Loki." but she was still glancing at Bruce, ALMOST discreetly, and it was like doves should fly around them and wedding bells should ring. Tony could almost see the spotlight shining and the music playing. It was beautiful. He knew where this was going. Bruce was even BLUSHING. This was a sign in heaven. 

And so, they walked, and eventually, everything really did start to become more vivid. Flowers began to sprout up here and there, and then they were everywhere. The grass-moss was a vivid green, even the bark of the trees was a pretty brown. Tony had never seen pretty brown before, but there it was right in front of him. What was considered night time on Earth was stars. What was considered night on this planet was galaxies, shining bright, of all different colors. Blue and purple, red and orange, some were even green. 

It didn't take long before they came across huts. Nice little houses, cozy-looking. One was a log cabin with a fireplace, smoke billowing through the trees. A light was on inside, and Tony was just glad that this planet had electricity. Eventually, they heard actual people, especially after seeing a house that was literally painted hot pink. A small blonde teenage girl was running barefoot through the forest, her nails and toes painted pink, wearing a pink dress, headed to her pink house. She flashed a grin at the group. She was young, and she must have died with her braces still on- they were pink, too.

Then, the trees left completely, and they were visited by a full-on village. When you think, village, you think poverty and starvation, like in the medieval times. But it was just downright happy here. All of the people were dressed casually and comfortably, most of them modern, the houses like small condos, all put together and touching, the road sprinkled by flowers and grasses. People played guitars and sang as they walked, some of the women holding baskets of flowers and goods, coming from a pathway that lead back into the vivid forest, marked with a wooden sign that read, 'Market'. Other signs read things like, 'Park,' 'Hot Springs,' and 'Palace'. You can guess where they were headed. 

It wasn't long before they could tell that things were getting a little fancier. The grass was even greener, and where the trees to the forest started was lined by different types of flowers. The trees met, making a type of ceiling altar out of the braches that seemed to have knitted together, and multicolored vines hung from the trees. 

It was literally Heaven, Tony thought, as opposed to the literal Hell on the other side of the planet.

And then, a surprising break in the trees, hit straight by an overwhelming view of a giant castle. All white, with towers springing out in every direction and pillars going at least twenty something feet up. It looked basically like Hogwarts, except made of white blocks. Smoke was billowing where there was mostly likely fires in fireplaces. There were people sitting on the large front porch, drinking tea. As the dirty, and most likely foul-smelling six of them walked up the stairs to the entrance lead by the twins, they were stared at, but not rudely. The people gave off a warmth. 

And then, the doors entered, and before Tony could take anything in, he just heard the piercing scream of "Daddy!" and the next thing he knew Loki was being tackled to the floor by the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, including Pepper and Natasha. Okay, maybe nobody was prettier than Natasha, but.

Loki was grinning from ear to ear as they hugged in a pile, the two of them. The girl was wearing a violet dress that pooled around her, and although Tony had only seen her face in the flash as he ran through the people, even her hair just made her look pretty- it fell almost to her butt, and it was long and black, and some of it was twisted into braids. Loki was holding her tightly, and her to him. 

She leaned back, and with a voice that seemed choked up, said, "I missed you so much." Loki was looking at her with an expression that could only be described with, well, LOVE, and said, "I missed you more." The two looked at each other for a minute more, and she squeezed his hand one more time before she sighed happily, and the two stood up.

"HEL!" Thor boomed, literally, through the entire castle- which was beautiful, but we'll get to that later- and ran over to her. He grabbed her and pulled her up, lifting her off her feet, and Tony imagined her bones crunching in his head. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his head and neck, saying, "I missed you Uncle Thor!" 

He dropped her to the ground, where her shoes landed with a click against the marble floors. "I haven't seen you since you were just a child! Look at you! You are all grown up." There was a real tear the size of a golf ball going down Thor's cheek, and Hel smiled and punched him in the arm playfully. Loki nodded with a bittersweet smile on his face. "Yes, adulthood becomes you."

And it did. Hel was more beautiful than Steve gave her justice for. He skin was perfect, not one imperfection, even the small layer of freckles across her nose didn't overlap. Her lips were perfectly rounded and pink, and her eyes were large and storm-cloud grey. Her eyelashes were so thick and black that it looked like she was wearing eyeliner and mascara, when it was also easy to see she was wearing no makeup. Her dress was a very nice purple, like the flowers outside, and she wore, of all things, combat boots underneath. The dress was lined with gold detailing. Hel smiled. "Thank you."

She was weird, but Tony kind of liked it.

She turned to looked at them all. "Well, it's nice to meet you! I'm, er- Hel." she said, addressing them. Steve, of course, was the first one to say anything. "Nice to meet you, too! I'm Steve," and he held out his large hand, which her smaller, manicured one shook happily with a grin on her face. Her teeth were perfect. "This is my, err, boyfriend, Tony," Steve said, addressing Tony, who smirked, "Bucky," who smiled crookedly, "and Bruce," who waved awkwardly like the little awkward person he was.

Hel's grey eyes examined the four friends, and Tony couldn't get over those eyes as he looked at them. Literally storm clouds- some parts lighter, like dark clouds rolling through small circles. Her eyes wavered on Bucky, and then examined his metal arm. Her eyes filled with curiosity, and she walked up to him. She smiled at him, and pointed at his arm. Her fingernails, unlike the rest of her, were short and uneven like she chewed them, a small layer of dirt under them like she'd been gardening. "May I?" she asked, and Bucky stammered. When you look at someone who's got a metal arm, you don't think, "Hey! I want to touch that," you think, "Darn, that guy's missing an arm." But not Hel. She was filled with curiosity.

"Er-uh, yeah, go for it." Bucky said, and he raised it just a bit for her. She wrapped her thin, graceful fingers around the arm and looked at it, her face blank, almost calculating or judging. She looked at it, poking her finger where Tony had installed the tiny alarm clock, and then she started grinning. 

"In all my years- and there are many, let me assure you- I've never seen anything so magnificent," she said, looking up at Bucky, her grey eyes meeting blue. Bucky looked, well. Smitten. "Me neither," he said, but everyone- maybe not including Hel- knew he wasn't exactly talking about the arm.

Tony shoved his hand into the air. "I made the magnificent arm!" he announced proudly. Hel turned to him. "Are you an engineer?" she asked. Tony shrugged. "Something like that," he said, and then pointed to Bruce. "Banner's a scientist." Hel perked up. "An engineer and a scientist. Are there more of your kind on Migard? We don't have any scientists in the Village," she said, pointing out the large wooden door that was still open, letting in a warm breeze, and down the green grass. A fluffy white cat stalked through the door. 

"Sort of," Tony answered, and Hel's eyes flashed. "Brilliant." she said. 

...

Hel showed them around the enormous castle. Somewhere along the way, Ganglot and Ganglati disappeared into their bedrooms so they could change back into their regular clothes and out of their Ninja Clothes, and Tony called them. Hel had a lot of cats, Tony noticed, just as there were a lot of dogs in the Village. Somewhere along the way she'd picked up a crazy-fat orange one that purred against her neck happily. Hel showed them to their rooms, one by one, saying, "There are extra clothes, bathrooms- yes, bathrooms like in Migard- and beds in there for you. Come back out as soon as you can!" with a grin. 

Tony and Steve went into their bedroom, and Steve let Tony shower first. Hel had been right- bathrooms just like on Migard, except perfectly different. The bathroom was made of perfectly slick, shiny dark wood, and there was no faucet- you pressed a button, and set a temperature, and the entire ceiling above the shower sprinkled water like it was raining inside. The soap smelled awesome, too- like some kind of magical forest pixie dust.

Okay, Tony needed to get back to Earth.

As Tony dried off his messy hair and let Steve shower- the fucking thing never ran out of hot water, either- he noticed the bedroom. The room itself wasn't all that big, but had tons of windows surrounding the walls and a huge bed, and a chandelier hanging over the entire room- and by entire, he meant entire, the chandelier was huge- that looked like it was made of deer antlers. Creepy. 

Tony scooped his bag off the dark granite floor, and dropped it on the bed, and pulled out a nice dark red shirt and black jeans. He sat on the bed- which was weirdly comfortable- and waited for Steve to come out of the bathroom when a tiger pushed open the door with it's snout and walked in.

Like it was a fucking little woodland friend or something. A TIGER, of all mammals to enter their bedroom. With vibrant orange fur and big green eyes. It didn't growl, it just looked at him curiously. But Tony had seen Animal Planet, and he knew where this was going to. 

So his first instinct was to scream.

Hel, the closest, bounded into the room, now wearing a different a dress- a down-to-the-knees strapless white dress with black heels. Her stormy eyes were worried and panicked, and then she saw the tiger and it was like everything was all fine and dandy. "You've met Thalia?" she asked like it was a joke, and then she walked over to the tiger, petted it's head, and purred.

The tiger purred like a kitten.

"You keep a pet tiger?" Tony asked, panting. Hel looked at him with a scolding look, and Tony actually got a little freaked out. This kid looked maybe nineteen and Tony could probably snap one of her arms in half- with, like, a chainsaw, he knew what the god's bones were made of- and she intimidated him. "I don't keep pets," she explained. "For some reasons, cats- big or small- are attracted to the palace. They show up as they please and we feed them. They've never injured anyone and the bigger ones hunt in the woods."

"What happens to the animals they kill?" Tony asked.

"They sort of, erm- regenerate. Their soul recreates itself and they wake up somewhere else on their side of the planet. The vast majority of animal souls ends up here on Helheim, save police dogs and things like that. They're sent to Odin's hall." Hel answered, smiling.

"Why don't you talk like Loki?" Tony said, and Hel raised an eyebrow. "I mean- well, I mean, you know what I mean. Two days ago Loki called me an 'ignoramus'. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's not in the modern every day vocabulary." 

Hel laughed. "A lot of the people who inhabit this planet die, well, every day. A lot of the people we get here might have had cancer or another illness, or maybe old age. Those are the kind of dead people we get here. If you die of a sickness, you are sent here. If you die of old age, you come here- but your appearance will be that of when you were your happiest. We don't get a lot of people that actually look like old people. And, say, if someone was to kill themselves from depression- that counts as a mental illness, not violence. Basically any other death is sent to Odin," she finished, a bitter smirk on her face. Finally, she looked at Tony like she was examining him, and a second later her features twisted again. "You're wearing that?"

Tony looked down at his shirt and jeans. "Yeah, why?" 

Hel grinned, and Tony swore her teeth could've blinded him. "Father didn't tell you? I'm throwing a party."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup ya'll  
> so i guess this is the third chapter wow  
> i'm sitting outside there are birds out here i hate birds  
> so i'm actually working on a trailer for this story???   
> it'll probably be posted on my youtube account so i mean if u wanna watch that whenever i have it just message me on my tumblr (timmyyturnerr) and i'll link you to it  
> thanks enjoy

  
Those eyes, Loki thought, as he paced the room he was inhabiting at the Palace, were not his daugher's. Not as he remembered.

Hel's eyes were electric. Green, like small emeralds. He remembered; when she was small, it had been his favorite thing about her. Hel had Loki's eyes.

He remembered when life had been simple. Living with his children's mother, Angrboda, who was lovely and tall and fair. Cursed, yes, but there were some things that were meant to be overlooked. And they lived in a nice, small house in the outskirts of a village on her planet, where they sky was blue and the grass was tall. And they'd had three children. When Fenrir, born a puppy was born, Loki was confused. This wasn't un-natural among the Gods, though, and so Jormungur was soon to follow. His scales reflected Loki's eyes, and Jormungur's eyes were golden.

When Hel was born, Loki had been concerned. This tiny child, so young, hairless and crying, tiny hands and feet- and she was missing an entire half side of her body. Just gone, replaced by her bones, and a bit of rotted skin. As hel grew older, just a toddler, then a young child, her hair grew extremely long. The side of her hair that was on the dead side was white, and she covered her body with it. She always wore a black dress. And all Loki could remember, his favorite memory, were her eyes- shining and emerald, and her smile that could light up a room, and her laugh that was contagious.

These eyes, these rolling, curious, storm cloud eyes were not his daughter's.

His bedroom was dark as he dressed in a tuxedo and a scarf, slicking his damp hair back. One of Hel's cats- a large white one with a squished face- paced accross the dark floor, purring, as if it was deep in thought. Loki stared at it, and it looked back. It only had one eye, the missing one covered with overgrown white fur.

Loki began to hear people shuffle into the house from downstairs. While the people of Hel's town were not poor or rich- normal, since there wasn't really poverty in what was considered a lower level of Heaven- they would be dressed normally, in their best clothes. As he thought of the kind of women that would be there, there was a small knock at the door, and Hel popped in, wearing a white dress and black high heels, her hair loose and a little messy around her face. She grinned at him, and she closed the door behind her. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," Loki said, a smile spreading on his face.

"It's been awhile," she said, a grin spreading over her face.

"Too long," Loki agreed. "The last time I saw you, you hardly came up to my stomach, and now you're almost taller than I am." Hel laughed. "I barely come up to your chin," she said, striding over to him and looking at him challengingly. "And I'm in heels."

Loki grinned, and then looked down at her further, straight into her face. "Your eyes," he said.

Hel sighed. "Later," she said, but he grabbed her wrist softly as she started to turn away. "Tell me,"

"It's not important," Hel urged, slipping her wrist out of his grasp. "People are starting to arrive, I'm sure some of them will be very happy to see you,"

"Darling, they can wait." Loki said. "Besides, Thor will hold them over. Let's talk."

Hel rolled her eyes, but fondly, and said, "Whatever you say." Loki smiled at her and walked over to the blinds of the windows, pulling them up and illuminating the room with a brilliant orange, like the galaxies that shined in the sky where on Earth there would be a sunset. When he turned back, she was sitting on the bed, the white cat in her lap. She was cooing to it, calling it 'Sugar' even though it was a boy-cat and scratching it behind the ear as it purred. Loki strode accross the floor and sat next to her, looking at her face and pale skin.

"I remember arriving here and I was so lost," Hel began, closing her eyes, petting the cat. "I landed in this marsh-this swampy marsh, and both of my shoes had fallen off and my hair was coated in mud, and I was crying. And I was terrified, not of the marshes or the forest or the dark, but for my brothers- and you. But I knew what I had to do. So I walked.

I walked for hours, which turned to days, and then I reached an opening, an opening into this beautiful vivid world and I realized what was happening, and I just smiled to myself- I knew the people there were going to be my people, and it was here that I would build my empire, and be good- become Odin's equal. And I was not afraid, the creatures that dwelled with the evil souls could not hurt me- I was their queen. And I built my empire, and Ganglot and Ganglati arrived- broken and confused, Ganglot still in her wedding dress. But through my triumpth I realized that I had no childhood. I spent what would've been my last years as a child building and defying, bossing people around, being an adult at so young. I never had a childhood. And my eyes, they began to grey.

When I aged, just a bit and Ganglot and Ganglati arrived, Ganglot was sobbing- asking for her husband, asking what she was doing here at the palace. When I explained to her that she was dead, she slapped me- asked me if it was some prank I was pulling and it wasn't funny. I must've looked eleven- and I was confused. What kind of woman could slap an eleven-year-old? I almost sent her away. And then it all flooded to me, like an ocean. The world is such an imperfect place, and this woman couldn't help her death. I became so sad, father, just thinking aboutit- what if you were about to be married, and your heart just stopped, and you dropped dead? Never able to have children, or marry your husband. And my eyes have been like this since that day."

Loki looked at her, and she looked sad. The cat had escaped her arms and ran out of the slightly ajar door. Loki opened his mouth, but found that there were no words. Her eyes had changed, become empty, because her childhood was empty. There was nothing he could do.

But Hel's expression changed, twisted upward, ignoring the sadness. "So, what've you been up to?" she asked cheerily, the darkness in her eyes lightening, like a storm passing.

Better now than never, Loki guessed.

"I tried to take over Migard, killing many people in the process," he said.

...

The scream echoed and shook the entire castle, it felt like. Hel's voice was intimidating, so loud that it felt like thunder and lightening were backing her up.

"YOU TRIED TO TAKE OVER WHAT REALM?"

Bucky snickered, straightening his tux- the one that had been issued to him (nice, for a foreign planet)- and nudged Steve as he came out of his room with Tony, who were both wearing similar outfits. "Looks like somebody dropped a bomb,"

"More like sounds like it," Tony said, rubbing his ear. "What, is she also the Goddess of Screaming? That shit was so fucking loud, I think she blew out one of my eardr--"

"MY FRIENDS!" Boomed Thor, who's even-louder-than-regular happy voice didn't even equal to his normal voice. He smiled crookedly. His suit barely fit him, and Bucky figured that he was going to end up either ripping it or taking it off. His blonde hair whipped around him as he walekd toward them. "It seems my brother and my neice are having a falling out."

"You dont say?" Tony asked sarcastically with a smile.

"Hey, where's Bruce?" Steve asked.

Thor grinned even wider, if that was possible. "He is speaking with Lady Ganglot. They seem to be getting off. Why don't we join them downstairs?" he said, and he guided the friends down a large hall and back to the main marble staircase.

The entire ballroom was filled with people. It smelled like food, and strange music was playing, the kind that reminded Bucky of the music that had been playing at the Renisance Festeval that Clint had dragged him to. The people were dressed anywhere from modernly to clothes Bucky couldn't even recognize, they were so old. Bucky wondered if he would meet anyone from the forties.

He walked down the stairs with Thor, Steve, and Tony, and Tony nudged Bucky in the side. "Look, there's Banner and the Ginger Ninja," and he pointed. Bucky followed his finger, and sure enough, there was Bruce dressed in the same tuxedo the rest of them were in, maybe more ruffled, sitting next to Ganglot, who was wearing a black, older-styled dress that looked like it belonged on a bride. Her dark orange hair was pulled into a complex braided bun. Bruce was clearly smitten.

The second Thor reached the bottom of the stairs, a collection of pretty women with milky white skin and long blonde hair all called his name and pulled him away, Thor smiling. Tony spotted the drink table and strutted over to it, pulling Steve over with him. Bucky stood there at the end of the stairs, at a loss. It wasn't often that Bucky found himself alone at a party, but he stood in a corner, picking out every person, watching them dance and laugh. Even though there was alcohol at the party, little kids ran around laughing, wearing nice clothes and jumping up and down.

Happy. A simple afterlife.

In the distance, Bucky heard a door slam and then open again, followed by Hel storming around the corner. She looked pretty mad, but Bucky still was taken away by her beauty. Her extremely long hair flipped around her shoulders, and her white dress made her look like the goddess she was. Her heels clicked against the marble stairs as Loki followed suit, wearing a suit with a long grey scarf, looking disgruntled, deep in thought.

Hel walked down the stairs, and smiled when people greeted her and called her name. The young woman who was singing on the stage stopped in the middle of everything to say, "Everyone, Lady Hel!" and everyone yelled or clapped and welcomed her. She grinned and waved to everyone, but clearly still trying to think about whatever she was mad about. Once everyone had gone back to what they were doing before she arrived, she sat down on the stairs and tapped her fingers against her knees, and Loki passed her, headed toward the drink section like Tony did.

Bucky shrugged, and looked around one last time before walking over to her. He sat down next to her and nudged her softly with his real arm. "You okay?" he asked.

Hel looked up at him. "My father tried to take over your planet."

Bucky shrugged. "I wasn't there for that. I was frozen in the ice for seventy something years- I got recovered a few months after he did that- but yeah, he did."

Hel sighed. "He's done a lot of bad things, but I never thought- I mean..." she drifted off, sighing again. "I guess I can't blame him- none of it would have happened if Odin wouldn't have been angry with him for trying to destroy Jotunhiem- although, that was not exactly the right thing to do, either." She chewed on her cheek. "Wait, you were frozen in ice for seventy years?"

Bucky laughed. "That's a story for later. Do you wanna dance?" he asked, and he stood up and offered his hand. Hel raised an eyebrow, shrugged and laid her small hand in his, and he effortlessly pulled her up. They walked into the middle of the crowd, filled with people who were dancing and laughing, a tightly-knit crowd of people laughing. Bucky took both of Hel's hands in his, and they swayed a bit before Bucky spun her around, and Hel laughed and lightened up, and then they just lost it, dancing wildly like the people surrounding them. Bucky spun Hel around the room, passing through people, thier noses brushing when the people became too close together. The song slowed, and they stopped, not knowing what to do. They looked at each other, and then Hel suggested breathlessly, "Would you like to get a drink?" And Bucky nodded, smiling.

They wormed their way through the crowd and to a table covered in food that Bucky figured was probably conjured magically rather than the old-fashioned way. And there were at least two hundred glass cups filled with something that looked like beer, rather than the plastic red cups Tony put out whenever he threw a party. Hel handed Bucky a glass and took a smaller one for herself, and they stood, sipping thier drinks.

"So, how does this," Bucky said, gesturing outwardly to the people dancing, and the place in general, "work? I mean- do they have rules?"

Hel smiled. "Well, not really. There are certain rules- no killing people to get them sent to Odin's Hall, that will get you sent away. Bullying is not tolerated."

"What kind of people get sent here?" Bucky asked.

"People who've died of sickness, old age- any non-violence. Um, non-virgins also come here. They are supposed to be sent to the bad side of Helheim, but I don't allow that. It seems unfair. If there is someone I am particularly interested in, I will fight the Valkyries- the, erm, people who collect the dead who would not usually come to Helheim, and I will bring that person here." Hel replied.

"How do you know when someone you want to be here is dying?" Bucky asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Sometimes I watch in on those who deserve it. While I can't leave Helheim physically without magic, I can leave Helheim spiritually- like a ghost, you might say." she sipped her drink, glancing at Bucky with a coy smile.

He smiled at her, and her lip twitched, and then she looked away back into the crowd of people. Among them were Ganglot and Bruce, who were deep into conversation.

"He is putty in her hands," Hel said, a grin spreading on her face, which was quickly replaced by a dark look. "How unfortunate."

Bucky raised an eyebrow. "How's that unfortunate? Bruce's been single forever, 'cause he tends to turn into a huge green hulk thing." Hel frowned, shaking her head slightly. "Of course it is not technically unfortunate, but Ganglot is dead, she cannot leave Helhiem, unless I granted her life. And she's been dead for a long time. I don't know if that would be in her best interest."

Bucky nodded a little, not fully understanding but also not wanting to look stupid in front of Hel. And then he shook the thought away again; this was Loki's daughter, the literal Goddess of Death standing right in front of him, and Loki would probably cut off his balls and put them in a milkshake before he let Bucky anywhere near her, romantically.

Speaking of Loki, the guy was flat-out drunk. He was running through the crowd of people, arms in the air, singing "Party In The USA" by Miley Cyrus. Hel glanced at him, and shook her head, smiling. "I havent seen my father in hundreds of years, and the first night I see him he gets intoxicated and sings a bad pop song." she bit her lip, trying to conceal her smile. "It's admittedly in his character."

As the hours went by, the people started saying good-bye to Hel, thanking her for the party and heading out the door toward the thick dirt path back to the Village. Hel thanked them in return for coming. A toddler with wavy blonde hair handed her a picture of her drawn with crayon. Hel grinned and leaned down, hugging the girl tightly and telling her she would hang it among the Royal Paintings, whatever those were. The little girl had smiled, and the girl's caretaker had called her away.

When Bucky started heading back to his bedroom, waving her goodnight, he secretly watched as Hel left the room. Right before he left, thinking she'd gone to bed, she returned with a mallet and nail, and she walked up to a painted portrait of a black horse with eight legs and nailed the picture there. She magically poofed the mallet away, and marveled at the picture, smiling to herself. Hel thanked one of the people who were dressed in all white, cleaning up after the party, before starting to head up the stairs to her room, and Bucky was already half way down the hall before she made the third step.


End file.
